[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 187 (Thursday, September 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45322-45324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20726]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-336; NRC-2017-0197]
Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc.; Millstone Power Station, Unit
No. 2
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) regarding the request for regulatory exemption from specific
requirements that would allow the use of operator manual actions
related to loss of instrument air regarding Renewed Facility Operating
License No. DPR-65 held by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc.
(Dominion, the licensee) for the operation of Millstone Power Station,
Unit No. 2 (Millstone 2).
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document is available on
September 28, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0197 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0197. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. For
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) is
provided in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room 01-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Guzman, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1030; email: [email protected].
[[Page 45323]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of an exemption from certain
requirements from section III.G.2 of appendix R to part 50 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Fire Protection Program
for Nuclear Power Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 1979,'' for
Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-65 issued to the licensee
for operation of Millstone 2, located in New London County,
Connecticut.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC has prepared an EA that
analyzes the environmental effects of the proposed regulatory
exemption. Based on the results of the EA, and in accordance with 10
CFR 51.32, the NRC has prepared a FONSI for the proposed action.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
In its application dated October 28, 2016, the licensee requested
an exemption from certain requirements pertaining to NRC fire
regulations contained in appendix R to 10 CFR part 50. The proposed
action would exempt Millstone 2 from these requirements and allow the
licensee to use alternate methods than those specified in appendix R to
10 CFR part 50 to achieve and maintain hot shutdown conditions for
affected initiating fire areas with consideration of a loss of
instrument air. Specifically, the proposed action would allow the
licensee to use operator manual actions (OMAs) related to loss of
instrument air at Millstone 2 in lieu of the requirements contained in
section III.G.2 of appendix R to 10 CFR part 50.
Need for the Proposed Action
A regulatory exemption to section III.G.2 of appendix R to 10 CFR
part 50 is needed to allow Millstone 2 to use alternate methods than
those specified in appendix R to 10 CFR part 50 to achieve and maintain
hot shutdown conditions for affected initiating fire areas with
consideration of a loss of instrument air.
Regulatory Issue Summary 2006-10, ``Regulatory Expectations with
Appendix R, Section III.G.2, Operator Manual Actions,'' documents the
NRC position on the use of OMAs as part of a compliance strategy to
meet the requirements of section III.G.2 of appendix R. The NRC
requires plants which credit manual actions for regulatory compliance
with section III.G.2 of appendix R to obtain NRC approval for those
actions in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 50.12,
``Specific Exemptions.''
The licensee originally submitted an exemption request for OMAs
contained in the Millstone 2 Appendix R Compliance Report in its letter
dated June 30, 2011. The licensee subsequently removed four OMAs from
that exemption request related to specific fire areas by letter dated
February 29, 2012, because loss of instrument air was not a postulated
event. The NRC approved the requested exemption, as revised, by letter
dated December 18, 2012.
During the 2016 triennial fire inspection at Millstone 2, it was
identified that a loss of offsite power will result in a loss of
instrument air prior to the emergency diesel generators starting and
that instrument air does not automatically restart and cannot be
manually started from the control room. The intent of 10 CFR part 50,
appendix R, section III.G.2, is to ensure one train of systems
necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown will remain available in
the event of a fire. At Millstone 2, instrument air is a single train
system and, therefore, does not meet appendix R, section III.G.2
requirements because there is no redundant train. A loss of instrument
air will result in both atmospheric dump valves (ADVs) failing closed.
Instrument air is necessary to operate the ADVs and support decay heat
removal. The four OMAs (OMAs 1, 9, 10, and 11) subject to this
exemption request provide assurance for the use of alternate methods
than those specified in appendix R to 10 CFR part 50 to achieve and
maintain hot shutdown conditions for affected initiating fire areas
with consideration of a loss of instrument air. As a result, the
licensee is submitting this exemption request for those OMAs (OMAs 1,
9, 10, and 11) related to a loss of instrument air for certain affected
initiating fire areas (R-9, R-10, R-13, and R-14).
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action. The
proposed action consists of the NRC granting Millstone 2 a regulatory
exemption for the use of alternate methods than those specified in
appendix R to 10 CFR part 50 to achieve and maintain hot shutdown
conditions for affected initiating fire areas with consideration of a
loss of instrument air. Specifically, the regulatory exemption is
necessary to allow the use of OMAs related to loss of instrument air in
lieu of the requirements contained in section III.G.2 of appendix R to
10 CFR part 50.
The proposed changes would have no direct impacts on land use or
water resources, including terrestrial and aquatic biota as the
proposed action involves no new construction or modification of plant
operational systems. There would be no changes to the quality or
quantity of non-radiological effluents. No changes to the plant's
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit are needed. No
changes in ambient air quality would be expected. In addition, there
would be no noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the
region, no environment justice impacts, and no impacts to historic and
cultural resources. Therefore, there would be no significant non-
radiological impacts associated with the proposed action.
The NRC has concluded that the proposed action would not
significantly affect plant safety and would not have a significant
adverse effect on the probability of an accident occurring. There would
be no change to radioactive effluents that affect radiation exposures
to plant workers and members of the public. No changes would be made to
plant buildings or the site property. Therefore, the proposed action
would not result in a change to the radiation exposures to the public
or radiation exposure to plant workers.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC considered denial
of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Denial of
the regulatory exemptions would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. Therefore, the environmental impacts of the
proposed action and the denial of the exemption request would be
similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
There are no unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of
available resources under the proposed action.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy, on July 31, 2017, the NRC
staff consulted with the Connecticut State official, Mr. Jeffrey
Semancik of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The state
official had no comments.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has requested an exemption from specific regulatory
requirements to allow the use of OMAs
[[Page 45324]]
as alternate methods than those specified in section III.G.2 of
appendix R of 10 CFR part 50 to achieve and maintain hot shutdown
conditions for affected initiating fire areas with consideration of a
loss of instrument air. The NRC is considering issuing the requested
exemption. The proposed action would not significantly affect plant
safety, would not have a significant adverse effect on the probability
of an accident occurring, and would not have any significant
radiological and non-radiological impacts. This FONSI incorporates by
reference the EA in Section II of this notice. Therefore, the NRC
concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
The related environmental document is the ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding
Millstone Power Station, Units 2 and 3--Final Report,'' NUREG-1437,
Supplement 22. NUREG-1437, Supplement 22 provides the latest
environmental review of current operations and description of
environmental conditions at Millstone 2.
The finding and other related environmental documents may be
examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room
(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly-available records will be
accessible electronically from ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on
the Internet at the NRC's Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS Accession No./ Web
Document link/ Federal Register
Citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., ML16305A330
Millstone Power Station, Unit 2, Proposed
Exemption Request from 10 CFR 50, Appendix
R, Section III.G, ``Fire Protection of Safe
Shutdown Capability.'' Dated October 28,
2016.
Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., ML11188A213
Millstone, Unit 2--Request for Exemption
from 10 CFR 50, Appendix R, Section III.G,
``Fire Protection of Safe Shutdown
Capability.'' Dated June 30, 2011.
Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., ML12069A016
Millstone Power Station, Unit 2--Response
to Request for Additional Information
Request for Exemption from 10 CFR 50,
Appendix R, Section III.G, ``Fire
Protection of Safe Shutdown Capability.''
Dated February 29, 2012.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ML12312A373
Millstone Power Station, Unit 2, Correction
to Previously Issued Exemption from the
Requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R,
Section III.G.2. (TAC No. ME6693). Dated
December 18, 2012.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC ML061650389
Regulatory Issue Summary 2006-010--
Regulatory Expectations with Appendix R
Paragraph III.G.2 Operator Manual Actions.
Dated June 30, 2006.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG- ML051960295
1437, Supplement 22, Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants: Regarding Millstone Power
Station, Units 2 and 3, Final Report Dated
July, 2005.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of September 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard V. Guzman,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-20726 Filed 9-27-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P